Weekly NHL Forecaster December 26th – December 31st

Below is a breakdown of the seventh week of NHL games in the 2017-2018 season (can you believe we are about 25% into the season?!?) . The graph breaks down the schedule and the strength of the opponent in goals for, goals against, their power play and penalty kill and ranks it against the rest of the league on a scale from 1-31 (with 31 being the worst) So the higher the average ranks you see for an opponent the better schedule that team has. It factors in how well a team does at home vs. on the road as well.

*Stats are as of 1/3/2018

Favorable:

Offense: If you don’t need quantity of games (aka daily changes of rosters)– Dallas has one game against Colorado who is allowing the third most goals on the road. The Penguins have back to back home games against the Red Wings and Rangers who are both among worst 12 on defense on the road. The Sharks have one game and it’s Arizona – if quanitity doesn’t matter, pick them across the board.

Goalies: Chicago gets a favorable week on defense with Ottawa, Detroit and Winnipeg (all bottom 10 in their home/away scenario) their only challenge is Minnesota on the road who is average. The Flyers get the Devils as their lone game who happen to be weak offensively at home.

Photo by Len Redkoles/NHLI via Getty Images

Power Play: The Bruins have only one game but the Montreal Canadiens are the 5^th worst PK unit. The Hurricanes on the flip side get 4 games and all four teams (Tampa Bay, Washington 2x and Calgary) are bottom 10 PK units. The Capitals should net quite a few going against the Canucks and Hurricanes twice

Penalty Kill: Anaheim gets one game and it just so happens to be against LAK who is bad on the Power Play but excellent on the PK. The Maple Leafs get the Blue Jackets and Flyers – two squads who were great last year on the PP and can’t get anything right this year.

Unfavorable:

Offense: The Panthers have a rough start to 2018. The Blues and Flames have very strong defensive units and goalies and spread 3 days apart could mess with Florida’s rhythm.

Goalies: Montreal – avoid them on all fronts if you can this week. New Jersey doesn’t have it easy either, the Flyers have a solid offense.

Photo by Vincent Ethier/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Power Play: The Ducks get the Kings who are the best PK in the league. The Stars face Colorado who is actually pretty good on the PK. Finally the Kings have one game (Ducks) who are the 9^th best PK unit in the league.

Penalty Kill: Montreal – avoid them. The Flyers face the 5^th best PP unit in New Jersey.